Official entrance age to compulsory education in France
France: Official entrance age to compulsory education was 3 years in 2025. ▼ Falling
Official entrance age to compulsory education in France, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for official entrance age to compulsory education in France is 3 years, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 28 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 50.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, official entrance age to compulsory education in France peaked at 6 years in 1998 and was at its lowest, 3 years, in 2020.
France ranks 188th of 200 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.
Official entrance age to compulsory education in France, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 6 years | — |
| 1999 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 3 years | -50.0% |
| 2021 | 3 years | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 3 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 3 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 3 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near France
More education data for France
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,023 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 229,471 (2013)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 61.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 16.2% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is official entrance age to compulsory education in France?
- Official entrance age to compulsory education in France was 3 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest official entrance age to compulsory education recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 6 years in 1998.
- What is the lowest official entrance age to compulsory education recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 3 years in 2020.
- How does France rank for official entrance age to compulsory education?
- France ranks 188th out of 200 countries with data for 2025.
- Is official entrance age to compulsory education rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is down 50.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Official entrance age to compulsory education (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release